Sword Art Online: Until It's Gone
by CROWDG
Summary: Follow one of the 10000 players through the world of Sword Art Online. Follow Crow in his quest of beating this death game with the experience from the Beta and maybe some friends, but most of all courage and skill is all he'll need to beat this game Until It's Gone.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Man, this is gonna be great!" My best friend's voice in my phone yelled excited.

Yes! Today's the big day; the launch of the first VRMMORPG for the Nerve Gear has arrived. The game, no other being Sword Art Online launching today at the same time as the Nerve Gear, is going to be played in all of Japan.

Most of the gamers will want it, but unfortunately, only 10000 copies will be available. Only my luck helped me with this game as I got to be one of the 1000 Beta Testers.

My friend doesn't have any experience with this kind of game, but thanks to his great intellect and my curiosity getting the best of me, we investigated everything we could about the headset and the game itself. I guess he won't have any problems in the game, only because of his good speed and maneuverability and his abilities for fighting with old weapons like swords and such. Me being a Beta Tester and getting to know since the beginning how to play and fight, won't have problems either, I think.

"Yeah I know. I'm glad that I didn't have to go and buy the game today." I muttered as I was passing by my mom's bedroom. In two steps I pushed the door leading to my room and saw my reflection in my computer's screen.

The reflection showed a 5'8 feet tall teenager. Being 14 years old I wasn't supposed to be as tall as my best friend is. He got lucky being 6'1 feet tall and being my same age. The reflection showed my black hair getting no more until half of my neck and almost covering my eyes. My various moles in the right side of my face, you could notice 3 of them close to my ear going down to my neck in a line. As always I was wearing my black clothes, not meaning I'm Emo or something, I just like wearing black as some people.

"You were lucky to be a Beta. But thanks for all the info from the game; I'll be using it a lot." His voice sounded a little angry at the beginning but then happy as always.

"I know, I know. You've been telling me that I got lucky since I got the beta" I was getting a little annoyed by the so many times that he has said it.

"Ok bud. It's time for me to go. See you on the other side, Alexander." I picked up my Nerve Gear from my bed and just stared at it for some moments thinking.

"See you, Crow" He hung up.

I connected my phone to its charger; lie on the bed and just thought for some seconds.

Will it be like we've thought? Will it be good? What am I thinking about? Of course it will. Of course it will be as good as we've both hope, even better.

"Hi there. Time for this week's MMO Stream. You just saw a promo of today's feature game and this is how last week's launch day looked like. Can you guess what everyone's waiting in line for? Sword Art Online! The first person in line said they camped out for three days! Hey, but if you're a hardcore gamer, that's what you do! On today's episode of MMO Stream, we'll be covering the internationally famous Sword Art Online. A.K.A. SAO. Up to now, none of the Nerve Gear's software seems to have taken advantage of the possibilities of the hardware". The girl of the video in MMO Stream page started her usual talk about games and technology.

"Love, I'm off to the gym! I'll see you later, Okay?" I heard my mom from the other side of the door.

The girl form the video said something about the creator of the game and Nerve Gear, Akihiko Kayaba and then "…Hey! This is the VRMMORPG that me and everyone else here have been waiting for! The Beta Testers say it's incredible! I wish I could've gotten one! The first selling was only limited to 10000 copies, those fans in line snapped them up." That was the last thing I heard before putting off CENTRAL, my computer.

I knew that this could change something in my but I still did it. I placed the Nerve Gear in my head, connected the cables and said "Link Start!"

Colors starting appearing and came rushing against me with a strange sound coming too. Then everything was white until some circles with colors saying "Touch", "Sight", "Hearing", "Taste" and "Smell". The circles lined up in the side of my view saying "OK", then turning green and going out through the sides. A blue box saying "Language" came up, I looked at it and one saying "Japanese" appeared at its side. After selecting that the usual login requirements showed up, putting in my account and password, the Character Creation box appeared on top and a big one under the other one saying "You have character data from the beta test. Would you like to load it?" My name under it "Crow (M)". I obviously pressed yes, not wanting to lose my hard worked on character.

Then my sight turned gray and "Welcome to Sword Art Online!" written in black showed up just before blue and white colors came rushing in view making everything blurry and then blinding me.

I was seeing a blue sky and some shards of light going up. Then I looked in front of me seeing a large church-like structure and a black haired teen closing his fist saying "Hello world. I'm back!" Then blue lights appeared around me signaling the arrival of the other players. I followed the black haired guy's example and said "I'm back to life!"

I think I've seen that guy before, maybe in the beta. Then I'll find out now I'm going grinding.

After walking through the bustling "Town of Beginnings" and buying one of the guidebooks some old beta testers were selling, some of them recognizing me saying that I didn't need it, I took it free nonetheless. Players were asking each other if they wanted to join their parties, I thought about it, but I know that I work better alone. I sat in the border of a fountain closer to the exit searching for some field in my map when I felt someone's finger in my shoulder. I turned around and saw a beautiful black haired girl looking at me.

She was wearing a white beginner's dress with some leather armor on it; I noticed her blue-silver- like round eyes, her small nose and thin eyebrows. She was a little paler than me but not that much and she had a lot of freckles in her nose, not that I cared about. She looked about my age.

My avatar wasn't so different than myself only a little taller, up to 6 feet.

"What's up?" I asked turning my head a little while looking at her.

"You were in the beta test weren't you? You know your way around." She asked with a friendly mood smiling at me.

"Yeah. Why?" She sat right next to me.

"Could you help me get to know the game a little more of the game? I'm a noob for now." She sheepishly asked.

I'm not that good at teaching people to do something but I can't let this girl going out not knowing anything.

"Sure" I smiled at her.

"Oh nice. I'm Aurora" She returned the smile and put her hand in my shoulder.

"I'm Crow. Now how about we go grinding to a field nearby, and I'll teach you some things there?" I suggested standing up.

"Okay. You lead, I'll follow." She stood up and came walking at my side. I was now noticing that she wasn't so tall, only reaching my eyes.

In some minutes we were in the field nearby away from other players that were smart enough to come grinding immediately.

As we were walking through some grassy open fields searching for something to hunt, I saw something in the distance, it looked like a boar. Before I could say something Aurora ran against it and tried to stab it with her dagger, unfortunately, she didn`t know how to use Swords Skills so the boar saw her and smashed her sending her a few meters back.

I came behind her and lifted her up from the grass. Seeing the boar coming against me now, I blocked its attack with my sword and then sent it off to the other side.

"Do you know how to use a Sword Skill?" I asked her as she was rubbing her lower back, where she had landed.

"No. What's that?" I looked at her a little surprised as she didn't know what a Sword Skill was and she was playing Sword Art Online.

"It's an attack or defense movement you do with your weapon. First what you need to do a preparation motion and then let it go" I explained as I saw the boar coming towards us again.

"Let it go? You mean something like this?" She lifted her dagger up to her shoulder and then moved her arm forward, obviously doing nothing.

"No. No. Like this" I took her arm and lifted it on top of her head a little to the right and then tried to move her legs for her to be in a perfect stance. As the boar was now charging against us.

I think she blushed when I moved her arm, but I wasn't going to ask about that now.

In less than a second the boar was in front of us kicking the dirt about to charge. I let go of her arm and as if she had some kind of instincts she moved her left arm back, lowered herself a little and stepped forward. She slashed through the boar and it blew in shards, dying.

"Did you see that?! Did you see me?!" She was running around me, laughing and jumping.

"Yes, I did see you. That was pretty awesome." I just stood there as she was spinning around.

As she was busy enjoying her victory, I started thinking where could Alexander be right now, maybe he did the same as me and he's grinding too. Maybe I'll search for him later.

"So, are there more boars around here?" She finally stopped laughing and running and just stood in front of me.

"Yeah. I mean this whole place is full of them, we just have to look for more." I got my sword out of its sheath in my back and just spun it around for a bit.

"Okay then. Now it's your turn to show me what you can do." I just smiled at that.

"Not a problem I just need some boars, so let's go for those." I pointed with my finger at three boars in a little group.

"I want to see you fight them at once. Can you do it?" She smiled and took a look at my sword.

"Of course. I'll teach you some things doing this." I started walking towards the first boar and positioned myself. My left foot on front with the right one back, my left arm a little extended to the right in front of me and my right arm with my sword up lifted at my chest's height, I lowered myself a little preparing for the attack.

Jumping straight at the first one I waited for my sword to glow and slashed the side of it, my sword leaving a blue glow as it slashed, I turned around after landing, did the same with the other two, took a few steps back and charged against the group with my sword in front, cutting the three of them at once. I just continued walking to Aurora as the boars were exploding in shards.

She just stood there with her jaw down.

"Will you teach me that?" She pointed at the empty space where the boars were.

"Maybe. Now let's continue." I just kept walking towards other boar that was a few meters behind her.

About two hours later Aurora was sitting on the grass looking to the distance as the sun was going down.

"I just can't believe that we're on a game, Crow. It feels the same as real life but its way better than that." She just lay down in the grass. "Kayaba is a genius. I got lucky to get one of the copies but you were ten times luckier to get to Beta test it." I just looked at her at that point.

"Hey. Don't you feel more alive being here?" She lifted herself up a bit.

"Of course. This place could be my second life if you ask me." I lifted my sword and stared at it. "In this world, a single sword can take you anywhere you want to go. And even if it's virtual I feel more alive here than in real life".

"Yeah. I feel the same." She smiled at me and then continued looking to the sunset.

"Alright Crow. It's time for me to go. My family is waiting for me to go out." I looked down to my feet then at her as she was getting close to me.

"Anything else you want to know, just message me okay?" I lifted my hand to say goodbye, she grabbed it and said

"Of course I will. Bye." She turned around, walked a few steps and opened her menu.

"Actually, there's something you could help me with." She turned around again.

"Sure. What is it?" I started walking towards her just as she said.

"Where did the logout button go?" I opened my menu to check on it and saw that instead of seeing the logout button there was only its block with nothing written on it.

"Maybe it's a bug." I said looking at her.

"Yeah and a major one. So we'll have to wait for the developers to fix it?" She said as I was staring at the ex-logout button thinking. This could be a big problem for the game itself.

"Crow? You there?" I saw her waving a hand in front of me.

"Ye-Yeah. I'm here…" I didn't finish talking when the bells of the city starting sounding loudly enough for us to hear it.

"Now that's weird. What's going on?" I muttered to myself. Aurora got closer to me, seeing the city at the distance.

In a few seconds we were engulfed in blue light, not like the usual teleportation one, this was something else. We appeared in the central plaza of 'The Town of Beginnings', being surrounded by other players.

"A forced teleport?" I heard to my right. I turned my head and saw Aurora standing at my side. Glad she didn't teleported elsewhere.

I saw the same black haired guy I saw earlier in front of me with a red haired player.

When someone said "Look, up there", I saw a red 'WARNING' signal in the sky, just on top of the big building in front of the plaza. In a moment the signal expanded two more signals saying 'System Announcement'. In less than 10 seconds the sky was full of red signals, each saying almost the same thing.

A red-blood like- colored mass came down form the lines, it did some electrical sounds and flashes of lightning were covering it. At the end, it formed into a giant red robe without face.

"The Game Master?" I wondered loudly enough for Aurora to hear me.

The big robe in the sky lifted its arms and said loudly "Attention players. I welcome you to my world" I thought that it could be an announcement, but when he said 'My world' I knew something was wrong here.

"What's he mean by that?" I said to myself.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Kayaba? The creator of the Nerve Gear and this game? I didn't have time to think about it when he continued talking. "I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus the Logout button." With that he opened his menu to prove it himself. "Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game." With that I just clenched my fist. "I repeat. This is not a defect. This is how Sword Art Online was designed to be."

"He's got to be kidding." Aurora was just as stunned as I was.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO." He continued. "And no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the Nerve Gear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the Nerve Gear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

Okay now that's a problem, let's hope that my mom won't try to pull it out form my head. Some people didn't believe this and tried to walk away, they couldn't.

"We have a problem Crow." Aurora turned to me.

"I know. But we can't do anything about it right now." The black haired guy was explaining to the red haired guy how it could be possible for the Nerve Gear to kill someone. He was right, the transmitter's signals in the headset work just as microwaves and if the safety is disabled they could fry your brain. And the Nerve Gear has batteries so it wouldn't work to cut the power.

"Despite my warning." The big guy still had something more to say. "The families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear. An unfortunate decision to say the least. As a result the game now has 213 less players than when it began; they've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world"

"213! We really have a problem Aurora." She looked at me then kept staring at Kayaba.

"As you can see." Several images from pages started appearing around him "International media outlets have rounded up everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a Nerve Gear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game." It certainly is. "It's important to remember the following; there is no longer anyway to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to 0, your avatar will be deleted from the system forever." Then we have new rules.

"And the Nerve Gear will simultaneously destroy your brain." He finished. Then I'm right, this is no longer a game. I need to be careful from now on. I can't let my HP to reach bottom. "There is only one way for a player to escape now, you must clear the game." Kayaba brought an image of the first floor. "Right now you are gathered on floor 1, the lowest level of Aincrad. "If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor." Aincrad's image started going up until the last floor. "Defeat the boss on floor 100, and you will clear the game". That would take a long time, but maybe we can do it. The red haired guy started talking to himself and then yelled "Even the Beta Testers never made it that high!" He was saying the truth; I got only until floor 6 on my own, while the highest was to floor 8.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present to the item storage of every player. Please, have a look." With that Kayaba stopped talking for a few moments. I did as he asked and checked my items, only to see a 'Mirror'. I took it and looked at my reflection for a moment, It just showed my avatar, nothing wrong with it.

A blue light covered the red haired guy, not the same as with teleportation. Then Aurora got covered by it too. "Aurora!" I called for her with no response. Then it was my turn to get covered by it too. For a moment it looked as if the whole plaza was covered by blue light. Then I was able to see again, some people around me were not the same as before. "You okay Crow?" I turned around just to see Aurora the same height as me. Nothing in her face had changed; I think he wanted to remain the same she was in real life, just as me. Except that I made myself a little higher. "Aurora?" She nodded and said "Well, nothing changed with you at least." I looked at my mirror and saw my normal face, with those notorious ears of mine too, glad I could cover most of them, they were little but notorious in my head. Some guys were in girls armors, now that's hilarious.

"Kayaba used the high density signal device in the Nerve Gear for this." Aurora explained for herself, I was surprised all she knew about it. "And he used the calibration to know our height and body type" I continued where she had left. She just nodded.

"Right now." Kayaba continued. "You're probably wondering 'why?' Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and Nerve Gear, do this?" The same thing I was about to ask myself. "Ultimately my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control of a world of my design."

"Kayaba" I said under my breath, angry. I heard the black haired guy say the same as me.

Kayaba then moved his head a little and continued. "As you can see, I have achieved my goal." I was now stopping myself to go and hit the guy myself. "This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." With that he started melting away in smoke, doing strange -bug like- sounds. When he disappeared, the sky cleared itself from all of the red signals and I could see the sun reflecting in the roof of the big building.

The other players were all stunned still staring at the empty spot where Kayaba was. While all the others were looking up, my hair was covering most of my eyes, as I was looking down. I was reflexing about everything that had just happened.

The game now was real life. The genius that made this, Akihiko Kayaba, designed the Nerve Gear rig and created this virtual world, I've been a fan of his since I heard about him for the first time so I know that everything he had just said is the truth. If I die here, I'll die in real life.

As a girl yelled "Nooooo!" People around us started yelling around. After seeing the invisible barrier clear away I said.

"C'mon Aurora!" She nodded and followed me through the empty streets.

As I was running with Aurora following I didn't see in front of me and bumped with someone else.

"Crow! Here you are. I was searching for you!" My best friend, Alexander, was in front of me, as always, taller.

"Hey Alex, did you see that. Don't you?" I mentioned the plaza.

"What? What Kayaba said? Of course! Only a couple more rules for the game nothing else." He said quickly. Maybe he was in a hurry too.

"The same I thought. Hey! Are you searching for someone or what?" I looked around and saw Aurora standing behind me.

"Hi!" Alex suddenly said, obviously not wanting to answer that question. Aurora just nodded as she was with her hood on.

"Hey Crow. Remember to level up, try to get as high as you can and we'll see each other more often. Okay?" He put his hand in my shoulder about to say goodbye.

"Sure. See you around." I just said. He started running straight to the plaza.

"Who was he?" I heard Aurora ask silently behind me. I turned around to face her and said "Just a friend from real life. Ready for a run to the next village?"

"Yep, we'll see who kills more monsters until arriving." She smiled at me obviously wanting a competition of some kind.

"Okay then, we'll go no stop until the next village." I prepared to run with my right foot on front.

"You first, Milady." I laughed a little. She smiled at me and started running at top speed already.

I just kicked the stone under my foot and launched forward. Keeping stamina but going fast nonetheless, as it was obvious she got tired eventually and I met up with her, advancing a little more and keeping a safe distance between her and I.

I could see someone slashing a Sword Skill at the distance; I knew who HE was from the beginning.

Some meters away a could see a group of Boars and Wolfs fighting each other. I just charged forward and slashing most of them with Vorpal Strike. Aurora killing the ones left. There were 7, Aurora killed 3. I'm winning until now.

New rules for the game. No. it's not a GAME anymore. This is real. I won't die in this game. I'll level up as much as I can. This world won't beat me. I won't let it. 'Cause I'm beating it first!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"Wow. I didn't think that the way here was so short." Aurora was panting beside me. Obviously the one winning the race was me, and I killed most of the monsters in the way, leaving some for her too. We had just arrived at Horunka village. It was almost midnight already; in the way here I had gotten to level 3 and Aurora until to 2, so you could say that in the way here, there were a lot of monsters for us to kill.

"It wasn't that short, you felt it was short 'cause we were racing each other. But if you come walking, it's a long way." I walked to a bench nearby, just to sit and rest a little. I knew that in this town you could get the quest "The Secret Medicine of the Forest", which could get me a nice new sword. The beginner sword wasn't what I needed right now.

"Hey Crow. Don't you feel like you could get a sleep tonight?" She sat beside me and was looking around, probably searching for an Inn.

"Yeah, I do. Follow me; I know a good inn nearby." I started walking down a street in front of us searching for the inn. "We could get something to eat too, I'm hungry. Aren't you hungry?"

Just as I asked that, I heard her stomach sound loudly, signaling she was hungry too. I just laughed at that.

"I could use something to eat too. Remember we haven't eaten something since the beginning." She was following me all the way down the street.

"Okay then. Here we are." I opened the door to the inn and saw there was only one player in the whole place. I immediately recognized him. I went straight at his table. He just looked at me and said

"Is there something wrong or there aren't any tables around?" He was just staring at me this whole time, but then his eyes went wide open and said "Hey! I know you!" He was pointing at me at this point. Aurora was leaning on the reception, talking to the NPC that controlled the rooms.

"Yeah. And I know you too; you were a beta tester too." Taking a sip of what was in his cup he just realized where we had met before.

"Let me guess. You're smart enough to come here instead of staying in the Town of Beginnings." I was waiting for Aurora to return from talking to that NPC when he guessed right.

"It's only the Beta Tester sense. So friend, what's your name?" I just wanted to know more of this guy.

"I'm Kirito. And you are?" Aurora just came and sat beside me with a cup of her own, looking at Kirito too.

"I'm Crow, and she's Aurora. I met her in the beginning. You came for the quest round here. Didn't you?" I took a sip of my own drink; Aurora had brought it for me just seconds ago.

"Yeah. You're doing it too?" Looking around for some other players to arrive, but none arrived. I nodded.

"For that sword? Of course." I finished my drink in just five sips; I guess I was pretty thirsty after that race.

"Okay then. Let's meet up here tomorrow morning and do it all together, that way it'll be easier for everyone to get the flowers while one of us fights against the Little Nepents." I nodded at that and stood up.

"Okay. Hey I forgot to ask earlier. What level are you right now?" I was standing in front of him now.

"I'm level 4 right now. And you?" He took the last sip of his own drink then stood up too.

"I'm 3. So see you tomorrow Kirito." I lifted my hand in a fist for him to hit it. Thing he did and then smiled. "See you." He finished and went outside.

I started walking towards the staircase where Aurora was waiting for me. "We're off to sleep?" I asked her as I was starting my way up.

"If you want to, but there's a little problem Crow." I didn't even worry about that and opened the door to our room. There was just one bed and a table with a chair at its side.

"Yep, that's the problem. There's only one bed. You don't care. Do you?" She asked with a tone of nervousness.

"No I don't. It's just a little awkward, that's all. But if we can sleep, that's good for both." I walked in and sat in the chair, I'm sure she'll want to talk about something.

"Crow." She was sitting in the bed at the moment, just looking at me.

"Thanks for today." I looked at her. "You know, for being with me today, you really made me feel better and not afraid with all this going on." I just smiled. "How do you do it? How do you stay calm with all this going on?" Some tears began forming in her eyes. I stood up and walked closer to her. Sitting beside her, she leaned on me and tears went off her face.

"I want to be calmed like you are, but I just can't. I can't stop worrying about my sister. It won't stop bothering me that thanks to some genius in technology, we are trapped in a death game." I was feeling the same as her, but I couldn't show weakness right now. I need to be strong for her and for myself.

"I'm worried too, you know." I broke my silence. "I'm worried about what's going on in the real world right now. I wonder what my mom would be thinking right now. I just wonder what our families should be going through with us trapped in here." With that I let lose my feelings.

"But we need to clear the game, that's all we have to do for us to be free. Even if that takes time, we're beating this game." I clenched my fists at that. "C'mon it's too late for us to be awake, and tomorrow we have to take a quest, so. How about we call it a day?"

"Okay. Crow can I ask you a favor?" She looked at me with a sad expression. "Can you sleep with me tonight?"

Now I really didn't know what to do, it's awkward but I can deal with so "Yeah. Sure." She smiled a little then opened her menu and took off her leather armor, leaving her only with a shirt and a skirt.

"Thanks." With that she opened the blanket and got inside, leaning her head in the pillow. I took my armor off too and leaving only my pants and my shirt I entered the bed form the other side.

I was waiting for her to fall asleep; I wanted to go grinding some more, to see if I could surpass Kirito.

As supposed she fell asleep, but as I was starting to move she turned around and hugged me while asleep. From instinct I blushed a little, but seeing that she was asleep I waited a little, then lifted her arm and put my pillow there. I stood up, put my armor on and went straight for the fields. As it was 12.30 I decided to return at 4.00am. It would be smart; otherwise Aurora could think I just went off without her. A growl stopped my thoughts and just as I turned around a wolf jumped towards me, this night was going to be fun.

As I eliminated the last of the wolves in the field, I think it was the last. I could see none around anymore, I looked at my health bar and saw my level. 4. Wow, it seems I really took down lots of wolves. I looked at the time and saw 5.30am. Oh now, if Aurora wakes up she's gonna kill me or she'll feel bad. Both of those options weren't good for me so I returned to the Inn.

Surprisingly she was still asleep, so I took my armor off, and in the way I saw a new armor. There was one I had seen before but didn't worry about. It was called "Unity." I didn't know what it did until that moment. Then I was going to find out, but now I'm gonna sleep until Aurora wakes up.

"Crow. Crow! Crow wake up!" With that was she was waking me! I didn't want to play along. "C'mon Crow! Leave your nest! Kirito is waiting for us downstairs." My nest? Oh the bed.

"Ok Ok! I'm up" I was groggily opening my eyes when "Ok nice. I'm taking a bath now so don't enter to the bathroom unless it's important, alright?" Now that I could see, the only thing I could see was her face, about 4 inches away from me. Literally 4 inches. She jumped from the bed and went straight to the door that leads to the bathroom.

I opened my menu searching for the clock, 9.00 am. I slept only about 3 hours, but that was enough for my energy to recover. I went to my items store looking for my armor and my sword.

I looked at the new armor piece. It was a gauntlet, but it´s stats were pretty lame. It's better than nothing. I equipped it; it was white with black shades. And a metal symbol with a black moon and black wings. It was really nice so I suppose I'll keep it.

It was called "Unity". I'll need to practice with my left hand, with this I'll be good enough to go against the field boss in no time. I'll need to change my other sword fast, the beginner isn't good. Maybe the Anneal Blade will be good enough.

I was falling asleep again when finally, I heard the door open, I saw the time 9.10am. At least she wasn't as most of the girls, taking half an hour to take a show or bath. She took only 15 minutes.

"Finally! Now let's go downstairs and meet up with Kirito." I jumped from the chair I was sitting on but "Holy shi…!" was all I said before I fell; face first down to the floor, after accidentally looking inside the bathroom on my way to the main door.

"Wait, I need to equip my clothes!" Aurora was walking to the bedroom, only in a towel. I was lucky to fall down; otherwise she would've smacked me.

"Crow, are you okay?" She crouched beside me. Now I was closing my eyes on purpose. "Aurora, I think you forgot something…" She looked down on her.

Her face went crimson red "Oh no!" And with that she ran back to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. Now that was awkward, for both of us.

Ignoring that had happened, I walked to the door and said "Aurora, I'll be going with Kirito and accept the quest, wait for us to return and then we'll go and complete it. Alright?" It took a few seconds but I heard a weak "Ok." With that I opened the door and went down the stairs.

"Hey Crow." Kirito was already downstairs. "Hey Kirito. Please tell me you haven't waited for us long." I sat down in front of him waiting for the NPC to bring me a drink, or something.

"No. I woke up minutes ago. Why? Did something happen?" He asked as he finished his drink. I noticed that he was a little more active than last night. Maybe he slept more than me.

"No, nothing. So should we go to the quest giver?" I finished my drink too and stood up.

"Yeah, it's two houses away from here." He stood up and walked to the door. I stood there thinking what Aurora could be thinking now. "C'mon Crow." I walked over and followed him through the street.

We stopped at one of the doors and Kirito knocked and an old black haired NPC opened the door "Good morning. Would you want to come inside?" We nodded and came inside.

The house was small inside, but big enough for at least to 5 people to be here at once. "Please, sit down. Do you want a glass of water?" We nodded again and a cough from upstairs could be heard.

"Please swordsmen. I need your help. My child fell ill some weeks ago and his condition is not good." Tears started to fell from her face. "I've tried giving him medicine form the market, but nothing works. There's a plant that has curative properties in the forest, but I can't take it. The plant would kill me first. So swordsmen. Could you go to the forest, take the fruit from the plant and then bring it to me, before it's too late?" We nodded again and something appeared in front of us. "Quest Accepted 'The Secret Medicine of the Forest.'"

We got out from the house and Kirito opened his map. "The forest is walking some minutes from the village to the north." "Then we're going back to the inn to see if Aurora is ready." He just nodded and walked off to the inn.

"Hey guys!" Aurora was, surprisingly, waiting for us at a table inside the inn.

"Ready to go?" I asked her as I walked closer. It looks like Kirito doesn't likes talking to girls.

"We're going to the forest, so you'll need your most powerful equipment. Are you sure you want to come with us Aurora?" I take that back, Kirito does talks to girls.

"Sure. Don't worry about me, just cover my back a little and I'll cover yours. Ok?" We sure nodded. I thought she would be angry after that awkward event. It sure doesn't look that way. But I'm gonna ask her about that later.

As we were walking to the forest, I got close to Aurora. Now that Kirito was some feet away from us, let's see what's going on in her mind right now.

"I'm sorry about what happened in the morning Auro…" And with that she put her finger in front of my mouth, silencing me.

"Don't worry about that, it was just an accident. But if you tell someone else what happened…" She came with a dagger to my neck, taking me by surprise. "You're gonna be sorry. Do I make myself clear?" She was about 4 inches close to my face, again. I just nodded. "Yes Ma'am." She let go of me and kept walking. She could be a nice leader someday.

"Now let's forget about that. I want to know you better…" With that she got closer and nudged my arm playfully. I didn't know what that meant.

"What do you want to know of me?" I was sure she was gonna ask about my real life, not that it bothers me. But I want to know more about her too.

"Okay. Question 1. Do you have any brothers or sisters?" "Nope, I'm an only child."

"How old are you?" Now these were normal questions. "Fourteen" "Nice…" It looked like her thoughts were trailing away.

"Have you had any girlfriends?" I looked at her strangely. "I'm not gonna answer that."

"Okay then. Would you be with someone that likes you in this game?" I just looked forward, seeing Kirito focused in the map only. "Depending on who's the person that is." She smiled at me.

"Alright guys we're getting close to the forest." Kirito said suddenly, still examining the map.

"Then let's prepare our weapons." I equipped my sword, then Kirito his and Aurora equipped her dagger.

"Let's get this started. We're searching for a plant that has a fruit in its mouth; there are few possibilities of getting the fruit. So we'll have to kill a lot of them just to get the fruit." With that said, we started walking through the trees. There're two things I'm sure of, this is gonna be fun, and two, this is not gonna be easy.

After walking a few steps in, we could see numerous Little Nepents, but none with the fruit.

"Okay. Aurora, you take the left side." She nodded and started walking to that side. "Kirito, you're going to the right. While I'll go to the center. Send me a message when you find the fruit." He nodded and went off.

I was alone, and in front of me, at least five Little Nepents. This isn't gonna be easy in any way.

I prepared myself, crouching a little, as always. My sword in my right hand, and my left hand in front of me. As one of the plants moved, I attacked, nonstop. I knew that this way, I could get damaged easily, I needed to be careful.

I did some easy Horizontal Sword Skills, one after the other. In just a few minutes, the Little Nepents were no more, none had the fruit. This is going to be a long day.

After about two hours of killing those stupid plants, which I got tired of. I finally found a bigger, strange looking one. The fruit was inside its mouth, and the plant was at least three times taller than me. No way I'm beating it alone.

I hid behind a tree, opened my menu and "Kirito I found the fruit, but we can't beat it being alone, come and help me. Maybe this one has other fruit for you." And sent the message.

As soon as it was sent, it came back. "I'm going, wait for me and don't fight it alone. I want some of that XP." I closed the message and waited about twenty seconds for Kirito to come, being chased by at least ten of the Little Nepents.

"First, let's take care of your chasers. Half and half?" I got my sword off of its sheath in my back and looked at him.

"Who kills more wins?" And with that he started a barrage attack against 3 of his at one. I did a Vorpal Strike and took 3 down with one attack.

"Not bad. How high is your level now?" Kirito asked as he was fighting of a Little Nepent. That had nothing little in it, being a meter and a half tall.

"Level 4. And you?" I killed one of this plants again just in time to block an attack from my side.

"5. You're one level above these things. We can kill them easily." With that another barrage started, killing 2 others.

"No kidding, with one or two slashes they're dead. Let's get this over with." Now it was my turn for a barrage attack. Finally we killed the group chasing Kirito, now we could worry about the big Nepent, I'd say that's a Field Boss, but I'm not sure.

"Ready for this? Let's do a joint attack. Let's both do a Barrage Attack at the same time that way, we're taking it down at once, together." He nodded then ran straight to the plant, waiting for his sword to charge its usual light blue color. Then I came in with my sword glowing, and the skills activated.

Right. Left. Up. Down. Lower left to upper right. Upper right to lower left. Lower right to upper left. Up and Down.

After we ended the attack, the plant automatically blew up in shards. Giving us both the "Little Nepent's Ovule" to finish the quest. Then the normal window in front of me saying "Congratulations you leveled up. Level 6." Kirito got to Level 7.

"Now that was something else!" I said to Kirito, he just nodded. I sheathed my sword and put my fist up, waiting for Kirito to bump it. He did after five seconds of recovering his breath.

"Wait. Where's Auro…?" I didn't even need to ask when suddenly she bumped against me.

"Oh there you are! I was searching for you guys." She lifted herself up, then helping me stand up.

"Did you get the items for the quest?" We both nodded. "Nice. Now. Can we go back to the village?" She did a puppy face, or tried to. I just laughed a little.

"Sure, let's go take a break." I couldn't believe my eyes, it was already 1.00pm. No wonder I'm hungry.

We went to the same house than before and gave both fruits to the NPC. "Thank you swordsman." She was talking to me, while Kirito was at my side. "As a reward, I'll give you a sword that has been passed in my family, since my grandfather until me. You could give it more use than me now. And again, thank you." With that she closed the door, and a message appeared before us. "Quest Over. 'The Secret Medicine of the Forest'. New Item: Anneal blade." The same for both of us. Deciding to prove it later, we went straight to the inn, where Aurora was waiting for us. Some more players were around, and hopefully, more will come.

"Nice to see you again, guys. Can I see your new swords?" We gave them to her, she examined closely, kind of like when you see a new cellphone, yeah… that kind of close.

"This looks nice…" She gave the swords back and. "So. What are you doing after these, guys?" She was drinking something at the moment.

"I think I'll go grinding tomorrow, and then I'm off to the next city. Are you coming?" I sat beside her; she leaned on me a little then went back to her drink.

"Sure. And you Kirito?" He was standing at my side asking for something to drink to the NPC at the bar.

"I'll do the same, but I'm playing solo this time. So, remember, I'm in your friends list." We bumped fists before he turned to the door. "Bye guys. Stay alive." We nodded when he left.

"Now it's my turn to know you better. Tell me your story." She finished her drink and then asked "Why? Did I get you interested?" I shrugged that. "Okay. I'll tell you a little, but it's still gonna take its while. So, be sure to have a lot of drinks." I nodded and asked the NPC a glass of water. This was going to be interesting.

Soloing? Maybe I could do that in some time, going alone through Dungeons and Fields, it shouldn't be that difficult with my level now, but I'm waiting for Aurora to finish her story, then I'll decide what to do.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"First of all, I have a twin sister…" Aurora was starting her story as we were at the inn in Horunka Village. "I think she's in the game too, but surely she's alright until now. She's stronger and better trained than me. I hope she's still alive." Her eyes were going off to the distance, maybe being drifted away by her thoughts, I think.

"Don't worry. If you want, we'll search for her one of these days." I assured her. She smiled warmly and nodded.

"Thanks, but anyway. My sister and I love playing games, so when the launch day came, we were two of the first ones to get it in the day. When we got to our house the first thing we did was to eat something, then we logged in and you know the rest." Now I was starting to notice some things in Aurora that I hadn't noticed before.

She has her usual friendly, funny (and sometimes cute) side in her, while the other one is just being focused on her objective. I still didn't know her well enough…

"Now. Will you tell me more about you? Just a little, we need to sleep after this." I nodded then tried to focus some ideas in my head.

"Well, I lived alone with my mom in Tokyo for about a year now. Since we moved from South America, with my luck I already knew English well, but Japanese, it took me a while until I managed to speak it well and even read it." I finished my drink and waited for her to finish hers.

"Now, let's go take a rest tomorrow we'll have things to do, we're going to Tolbana." After that she stood up and went straight to the staircase, stopping half way and then gestured me to follow her. I just followed after her; I was too tired to do something else. When I arrived to the bedroom, I saw Aurora in her menu; I didn't even bother to say something. And just as that, I lay in the bed and went for a good night of sleep.

**December 2nd, 2022 Floor 1, Tolbana.**

A month has already passed, no one has even found the boss room and two thousand people have already died. We had arrived at this city a week ago. Going to the labyrinth every day was becoming boring now. But I knew we were close to finding the boss room.

There were rumors about a meeting in the city today, about how to defeat the boss. I'm going to the meeting, only to see if these guys were organized enough to attack the boss.

The meeting was in the old amphitheater and little by little, players started to appear. When everyone was here, there were at least thirty people. I even noticed Kirito in this place, maybe later I'll talk to him, but first, I wanted to pay attention to this whole meeting. I was sure I could see the whole thing from up here; I was sitting on top of one of the columns in front of the amphitheater, looking straight down to the stage.

After a while, a blue player went to the stage. When I mean blue player, it's really blue, the guy was dressed in a blue armor with a dark chest plate and shoulder pads of the same black color, his hair was a bright blue and his eyes were the same blue.

He clapped his hands twice, signaling the start and then saying loud enough for everyone here to hear "Okay people. Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started. So anyways I wanted to thank everyone for coming here. Good to see you. My name is Diavel and in this game, the job I hold is knight!" Everyone here laughed at that, there was even someone saying "Dude, there's no job system in this game!" I just smiled from up here.

"You guys wanna hear this or not?" He asked moving his arms up and down, trying to calm the other players.

In a second he turned serious and said "Right. Anyway here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." Many of the players gasped at this. "First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to floor two. The next step is, we have to tell everyone waiting in the Town Of Beginnings that it is possible to beat this game. Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here. Do you agree or not?"

This guy knows how to motivate people. The other players started cheering at him with clapping and even whistling. I was just watching from up here. "Okay! Glad to hear you're all with me on this. Now, let's figure out how we're gonna beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six." Yeah… I'm not helping these guys if they want me to be in a party, maybe I can ask Aurora if she wants to join me. Nah… I don't think she'll want to, she's level 12. Compared to me, that's not so bad, while I'm 15 she's just three levels under me. Not bad...

While the other players started talking between them, Diavel still wanted to talk. "A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group, made up of multiple parties." I wish I had a camera right now, Kirito's face is priceless. I know he's not a group guy so he's having a hard time right now. This meeting is funnier than I thought.

Kirito scooted over a player dressed with a red coat with a hood on their head, this is gonna be fun. Let's see if he gets a partner thanks to this. After some seconds it looked like Kirito managed to convince the other player. Well, good for him. Maybe I'm helping these guys for this, but I want to hear the whole thing before I decide. I noticed Kirito opening his menu, then sending the party request to the other player, it looks like he made it.

"Alright! Looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then…" He stopped talking when we all heard a player shouting "Hold up a sec." The player was right in front of Diavel, in the upper part of the amphitheater. Now what…

This guy came jumping down the whole amphitheater until he reached Diavel.

"My name's Kibaou. Got that? Before we take on the boss I wanna get something off my chest." This 'Kibaou' talked to the crowd. This is gonna be interesting. "We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well some of you need to apologize to them right now!" He pointed at the players who were sitting in a group. This guy's talking about us. But, apologize? I have nothing to apologize for.

"Kibaou." Diavel said. Kibaou turned his head at Diavel. "I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who are ex-Beta Testers. Right?" Diavel wasn't talking so loud now.

"Of course I mean them!" He yelled at him just loud enough for everyone to hear him. "The day this stupid ass game started, the Beta Testers took up and vanished, right? They get stolen beginners. They snatched all the good hunting spots and they grabbed all the easy quests too. They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time they've ignored us like we're nothing." He glared at the crowd "Hell! I bet there're some of them here! Come on out Beta Testers! We should make them apologize to us! And we should make 'em give up their money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them, when they don't trust us. Why should we?" He finished with his arms crossed. Okay! I'm out of here! These guys will make it, but I'm not helping them.

With my mind made up I turned around and launched myself down and touched ground. Let's see what Aurora is doing now.

**5 minutes later…**

I need to practice more on my acrobatics skill if I want to be good at escaping or hiding. After running and climbing and jumping on the rooftops, I could finally take a break at the inn, good thing I made the way shorter.

As I was entering the inn I saw Aurora talking to some players in the bar, looks like she has new friends. I just sat down on one of the chairs in the corner when Aurora came smiling at me.

"How was the meeting?" She was cheerful today it seems. I told her earlier that I was going to the meeting and I needed her to stay at the inn while I was out, hopefully she stayed here.

"Well, they found the boss room and now they were joining in parties to make a good raid group, they'll beat the boss." I was planning on something to do on my mind while I was talking to her. Maybe we could head to the dungeon some people were talking about in the meeting.

"And you're not going?" Alright, I need to make up something quick; I couldn't tell her that I'm not going just because they don't like beta testers.

"Nah… Actually I was thinking that we could go to a dungeon that some people found today." She could be a great help sometimes, having someone that knows how to fight can be great sometimes.

"Okay, but if you're thinking of beating it, first we need to take a look at the boss. I'm not risking you to a stupid monster again." She pointed at my face at the end. She knows me well; she knows that sometimes I can get out of control while I'm in a fight.

"Yes Ma'am." I got my hands to close to my face a little scared. She's tough and she has proved that, so it's better not to argue.

"So, you know where this dungeon is?" She was sitting on a chair next to me at the moment. Before we go, I have curiosity about what was she talking about with those players.

"Yeah, I know where it is. But first. What's up with those players you were talking to?" I answered while I pointed my head in their direction.

"Nothing, they were just asking where's the closest armor's shop in the city. Why? Did I get you interested?" She leaned a little on my shoulder in a playful way.

"No, I was curious that's all." I smiled at her, and then moved a bunch of my hair that had gotten to my eyes. It's my idea, or my hair has lengthened in this month?

"Okay, mister Curiosity. Are we going to the dungeon or are we gonna talk all the day about what you have in mind?" She stood up, and then turned around to look at me.

"We're going to the dungeon." I stood up at her side, and looked at her. "Is that good? Princess?" I teased her a little.

"Yeah that's good. Now, lead me there, I'll be right behind you." I don't know why, but she's always liked to follow me, like following me around town and through the fields. Not that it bothers me; she's a good friend and a good person to be with.

**Outside the city walls…**

"Hey Crow. Did you have any girlfriends back in real life?" Aurora broke the silence of our walk.

I turned my head to the right to look at her, a little shocked at the question "Now that's a strange question, but no, I didn't. Why do you ask?"

"N-nothing! I was just curious, that's all." I nodded and looked ahead, I heard her sigh behind me. The dungeon was right in front of us, it looked big, maybe it's gonna take the whole afternoon to beat it, but I'm ready for it.

We kept walking for a few minutes until we got to the entrance. Just one tunnel up ahead, nothing more than tunnels, this is gonna be cool, darkness suits good for me. Maybe I even get something at the end of the dungeon.

"Ready Aurora? You have your healing crystals?" I checked if she had everything, this could get dangerous and I don't want her to be hurt thanks to me.

"Yeah, I have everything ready, just tell me when you get tired or when you need a switch and I'll help, but I'll watch your back, always." She assured me; I nodded and took a few steps inside.

All I wanted before we went to the second floor is a sword I used and loved back in the Beta and a cloak too. But to get that, first I need to clear this place.

After getting to the first room I began to scan the whole place, it was dark and its walls were all made of rock, the floor too, a dungeon built inside a mountain. After a pair of seconds I noticed red glowing orbs in front of us, at least six. A pair of them to the right, the other pair in the center, and the other to the left. Kobolds, the same enemies from the main dungeon.

"The one who beats more wins?" She walked forward, at my side. I looked at her to see that she was smiling. The light coming from outside shining against her back, was I beginning to feel something for her?

"Okay, but let's get to the main room shortly. Can you keep up with me?" I unsheathed my sword with my left hand this time; I wanted to see if I was good swinging a blade being left-handed, that would be awesome and it would be effective fighting large groups of enemies.

"Sure. Let's go!" With that she dashed against the Kobolds, daggers in hand. I smiled and shook my head a little. This was going to be fun. If I could get my cloak I'll be ready for anything, and with my own sword there was nothing stopping me.

I dashed forward too, seeing Aurora fighting effectively against her group, I decided to leave her against them while I took the other groups coming in front of me.

I wanted to use some of my old Beta techniques against these guys, got them from playing a lot of fantasy games for the Wii. I remembered Link's fighting from The Legend of Zelda, and as he was left-handed I could use those same attacks.

Doing some slashing attacks against two Kobolds was pretty easy, but against a large group of them wasn't going to be that easy, so I tried my old spinning attack.

I focused in about eight of these guys, placed my right foot in front of me, with my sword in my left hand, I spun my upper body a little to the left with my arm backwards, I saw my chance to attack and took it.

I pushed myself forward, kicking the ground under me and launched my arm to the right, with my sword lined up at the height of my arm, striking at least three Kobolds in the process, once I made it to the other side, I did the same than before and managed to strike five more behind me, once I memorized the attack, I returned to my first stance and waited for the right moment. My sword started to glow a bright blue color, ready to strike. When six Kobolds were in front of me I launched myself forward again and hit them all, now wanting to finish all of them I readied myself and a skill called Cyclone activated, with both of my hands holding the sword at the right of my waist, my sword started glowing an emerald-green color and attacked, doing a single upwards diagonal slash, from right to left. Once done I returned to my normal stance to check on the damages, in a pair of seconds every single Kobold around me blew up in the normal light blue particles.

I turned around watching Aurora finishing with her last one. She looked behind me with a questioning look "Wait a second; I remember this cave full of the little guys! What happened to them? Crow?" She looked up at me, since she wasn't as tall as me, only reaching my eyes.

"I finished with them. Why?" I sheathed my sword at my back and looked at her.

She let her jaw fall a little. "In this little time? Okay, I know you're full of surprises, but that's awesome, you need to teach me that attack." She smiled back at me. I nodded. "So? How much further?" She sheathed her sword and started walking again.

I sighed before walking at her side "You know how long dungeons are, but at least we cleared half of it already." She looked at me surprised but then nodded, smiling at the same time.

Yep, she's the perfect companion, always cheery and happy, calmed most of the time, but at the same time focused at doing what she does. I wonder how her sister's like.

**3 Hours later… In front of the boss room**

"So? Ready Aurora?" I asked her, as we were about to open the door to the boss room. She nodded "Have a teleport crystal prepared, just in case." With that, I opened the huge doors finding a dark room, with torches at the walls.

After stepping inside, at the end of the room, I saw two orbs brightly glowing blue. After walking a little further inside, with my sword at hand. The glowing orbs hovered above the floor, and the room became illuminated by rainbow colors at the walls. Revealing a tall armored creature waiting for me to start the battle.

**Dark Knight** was the name of the boss, I saw that it had two health bars; the good thing was that it didn't have any minions around; this was not going to be easy…

**At**


	4. Chapter 4

"Okay! This guy's big enough to beat us both, but we can beat him if we analyze his attack patterns." I shouted at Aurora as we both started running towards the boss.

She nodded. "So, how do we do that? We go in front of him and annoy him until he attacks?" We crossed paths behind the big guy as we ran around him.

I smiled at her joke. "Actually, that's not a bad plan. Yeah! Let's do that!" She looked surprised for a moment and then rolled her eyes.

We both stopped in front of the Knight just a few meters away. I needed to make him attack me for a few minutes for me to decipher his movements and see if he has a weak spot.

"Aurora, I need you to stay here, always with your guard up, just for a few minutes. I don't want anybody dying on me today. Sounds good?" I looked at her to check if she had listened to me.

"Yeah, but then it's my turn okay?" She asked while I prepared my attack. In that split second I saw how her eyes shimmered as she talked with me. Now those are beautiful eyes… C'mon focus, now's not the time to fall in love with your best friend. Not now anyway. I shook my head to get my head out of those thoughts, just to see a giant black sword coming right at me.

At that I charged at the Knight and passed right between his legs, once safe behind him, I saw how his shoulder moved strangely as he retracted his arm, how his left leg moved slower that the other leg. Those were his weak points! Now I needed to know how to use those weaknesses against him.

I'm going to need help if I want to beat this guy easily. Luckily I have the perfect person for that. I needed just a little help to pull this out.

"Aurora! I know how!" I shouted at her. She immediately came running at me, just in time to dodge a giant blade coming down against her.

I prepared myself, sword in front, ready for any attack this big guy could launch at me. I just needed to wait for Aurora to be here, and the party will begin.

Just as she ran at the side of the walls, the Knight launched his sword at her; I took my chance as I saw his shoulder move strangely again.

Changing my sword to my right hand, I kicked the floor under me, launching me against the boss. Just as he finished throwing his sword, I placed most of my weight to my right and then diagonally slashed his shoulder blade, right between his neck and the shoulder. I noticed it didn't have armor there, so the next obvious thing to do was to stab him there.

I jumped at his arm, got a hold on it and then jumped again, but this time, at his armored head. The metal against my knees hurt a bit, but I had something else to worry about now. I pulled my sword over me and then, with all the strength I had, stabbed him right in the weak point.

The boss yelled in agony at my sword being in between his neck and shoulder, he pulled his back, and tried picking me with his right arm, it's like if I had immobilized his left arm. That's it! The sword being in the weak spot immobilizes him. I need this chance. But let's see if Aurora can do it for me. Right now, I'm a little busy not to get picked up by the big guy.

"Aurora! Strike him now!" I yelled at her while the boss shook and moved from side to side just to get me off of him. Not gonna happen bud.

She nodded and then charged at the Knight. She took the chance right as I thought she would and slashed up and down against the big guy's chest.

I needed to attack too. But how do I do it if my sword's still stuck in the boss's shoulder? That's when I remembered that I had found a dagger in one of the chests of the dungeon.

I pulled my sword from the big guy's body, and then jumped off. Once I was safe enough, I searched for the dagger in my inventory. **Thunderstruck**, now that's a nice name for a dagger. But why thunder?

I got my new dagger from my inventory and saw why it was named like that. The blade itself was a thunder, more like a lightning. The grip was round with even the places to put the fingers on it. The blade and the hilt's color was some kind of blue, the pommel, blood red.

Let's see how this turns out to be. I used my sword in my right hand and Thunderstruck in my left. Ready for the attack, I saw Aurora still slashing at the big guy. Wow she has some serious stamina to last that long.

"Aurora! Pull back!" I yelled at her as the boss picked his weapon from the wall. She nodded and then ran at me.

She stopped at my side and saw my new dagger with wide eyes, eyebrows lifted. "Nice dagger." She said smiling at me. I nodded at her and then prepared for charging once again. I need to finish this guy, and this'll do it, I hope. He still had a full bar.

"When I say it, attack with everything you have. Until we finish this. Okay?" I was determined to end this, and with only those words she was more than happy to help me.

She nodded with a smile. Man, she's beautiful… No time for that. I'll finish this guy, and then wait for the raid group to advance to the second floor. I want to see everything this world has to offer.

I charged again and waited for the big guy to slash at me. He did as expected and I took the chance. I slid under him and jumped at the arm which had the sword in hand.

With everything I had, I stabbed him once again in the arm. He yelled with his deep voice and dropped his weapon.

"Aurora! Now! Atta…!" I didn't need to finish when I saw the blue colors from her slashes.

Once I saw his health bar dropping to the half, I went to the front of his face. Having those red eyes staring at me wasn't easy, but I did it nonetheless.

With my right hand holding the sword, still stuck at the boss's shoulder, I lifted my left arm and dropped it hard on his eye.

"AAAARRRGHHH!" The Knight screamed in pain, that's my signal. I smiled at his other eye, lifted my arm again and then dropped it again, blinding him.

With that, I pulled both, my sword and Thunderstruck out and jumped off. Aurora was at my side in a second. And I could only watch as the Knight ran against a wall, smashing himself in the process, his health bar still had just a little waiting to be depleted.

I nodded at Aurora, she nodded back, and we both charged against the big guy. The boss turned around just in time for my companion to slash at his legs, making him drop to his knees.

I came forward and stabbed him in the back of his neck with my sword and then cut his neck with my dagger. I saw the health bar deplete just in time.

In a pair of second the Dark Knight blew up in particles and was gone.

I stepped back just to see **CONGRATULATIONS **written in thin air. Panting heavily, I dropped on my knees, only to take a break.

In a pair of seconds, Aurora came running against me and hugged me tightly. I didn't know if I was blushing, but I felt my face boil.

"Are you alright?" She asked after pulling away, but didn't take her arms off me. She sounded concerned. Wait. She? Concerned of me? Wow.

"Yeah I'm fine, just a little tired, that's all." I chuckled just to see that beautiful smile of hers.

"Yeah, I'm tired too. After this, we go back to the inn. Okay?" She smiled at me, then stood up and helped me stand up.

As we began walking out a message popped up in front of me.

**Congratulation**

**You got the last attacking bonus!**

Then another one popped up.

**BONUS ITEM**

**Coat of Thunder**

This is awesome! New clothes, maybe this is better than my cloak back in the beta.

"Hey what's that?" Aurora asked as she saw the message in front of me.

In a second it closed and I opened my inventory, went down searching for it, and then put it on. I felt something materializing on me just as I looked down at it was already there.

I took note that it had a nice collar that reached my ears, and that it had more weight behind my head, maybe it had hood.

"Wow. Nice coat, Crow." She said wide eyed looking at me. I looked down just to see dark blue.

Almost the full coat was dark blue, except for half the sleeve and from there down until it reached the bottom. The not Dark blue color was a dark gray color, almost black. It had electric blue (As I began to call it) lining, in the borders of the hood and between where the blue and grey mix.

This is way better than my old cloak. She was watching me while walking around me.

"Lame… There's nothing good for me…" Aurora was feigning to be sad, I chuckled a little. I knew that wasn't true, she didn't know.

"Actually… Here I have something for you Aurora." I searched in my inventory, took it out and showed it to her.

"For me?" She asked curious, she had a hand near her mouth then said "Wow thanks Crow. I'm gonna put it on right now." I felt my face warm up a little at that, glad she turned around and opened her inventory.

In a pair of seconds, her beginner's clothes changed to a beautiful dress.

It was an electric blue dress that opened up right in her thighs; it had some white linings in the shoulders and some white sleeves for the arms, with a brown thing for the torso. And it had just a little too open in the décolletage part of the dress I didn't pay much attention when I got it, but I knew it wasn't for me. I'm glad that she had some white leggings so I didn't have to worry about that.

Man, she looked gorgeous dressed like that. I noticed something that I hadn't seen earlier, but now with that dress it truly was noticeable, her breasts were much larger than the rest of the girls I've seen so far.

I shook my head just to clear those thoughts, and didn't mind those things I was watching.

"Thanks Crow! It's beautiful! I love it!" With that she ran at me and hugged me tightly, chest against chest, too tightly if I can say so, she hugged me for about two minutes, with her head nudging against the left part of my neck. I think my chest hurt after she pulled away.

"You-You're welcome Aurora." I smiled at her, noticing that she hadn't pulled away fully; her arms were still around my neck. I could breathe her own breath being this close, I could see her eyes shimmering against my own, glad she was just a little lower than me, she wasn't completely at my eye level, but she was almost there.

I could hear my heart pounding in my ears, being this close got me so nervous, as never before. Yeah, definitely I had feelings for her; I just needed to tell her.

We've been together for a month already, but just as friends, really close friends. Each time we were in the city she pulled me by my hand. You could say that we could be like girlfriend and boyfriend, the only thing that wasn't done yet was a kiss, but I don't know if I could do it myself.

"So? Ready to go back?" She asked me with her cheeks red, not really noticeable but still, being this close I could see.

"Yeah let's go." I nodded at her with a smile. Her smile always made me smile. And her eyes could make me dream.

She grabbed my hand and started pulling me; I was used to this already. I just followed her until we reached the exit.

We started walking back to Tolbana and reached it just before sunset. That was the perfect time to go sit in the roof of the church tower at town and watch the sunset. This is my chance, to see if she's the right girl. I need this chance, and I'm not wasting it.

"Hey Crow, let's watch the sunset." She offered with a little blush in her cheeks, just as we were in front of the church. The perfect chance, in a silver plate, waiting for me to take it.

"Okay, I'll meet you on the tower of the church in two minutes, take the staircase." I nodded at her, but just as I started walking to the side of the church she pulled my arm.

"Wait! How will you get there then?" She curiously enough asked. I winked at her.

"Just get there and you'll see." With that she let go of my arm, and I charged to the side of the church, watching as she walked to the entrance of the church.

The walls of the church had notorious sides, which meant easier to climb. Thanks to my uncle and his teachings about climbing rocks, buildings and particularly, Parkour, now I know how to climb almost anything.

So, once that I secured my hand at the border of the window, I placed my left foot in a bench at the side of the wall and pushed up.

After about 5 minutes of pulling myself up with my arms and pushing myself up with my feet, I reached the top. Just a little tired, not panting, but tired.

I turned around, just in time to see the sun beginning to set, and in a pair of seconds I heard the door close behind me.

I felt a slender arm going from my back, to my left shoulder and then Aurora's hand holding to it. I felt her head nudging under my arm, trying to get entrance. Then I opened my right arm and Aurora's head came and then rested on my chest. Nervous, I placed my hand on her shoulder and let it rest there, while her right hand held me tight by my waist. Maybe she was cold.

"Now that's a beautiful sunset…" She sighed and then nudged my chest a little; I lowered my gaze to look at her just to see her beautiful eyes looking back at me.

"Yeah, just like you Aurora…" I said thinking aloud; she's probably going to hit me for that, I think.

What I never suspected that would happen happened, she nudged her head against my chest and then got on her tiptoes, reaching my eye level.

I lifted my eyebrows a little confused "What's up princess?" I smiled at her just before I felt her lips against my own, now that's confusing. I thought that I'd need to be the first to make a move, well… It looks like she felt something for me too.

I turned my whole body at her and put my arms slowly around her waist, just in time to feel her arms lifting and then surrounding my neck, pulling me tightly against her. I can't believe this is happening, my first kiss taken by my best friend.

I don't really know how long did that kiss lasted, but as we pulled away a little we were both panting, catching the air that we lost.

Her face immediately turned red and she smiled at me, I returned the smile. That kiss left me wanting for more, and now that she's more than happy to…

I pulled her softly until our lips met again, I felt her tongue asking for entrance, I was happy to oblige. Our tongues began dancing in there, each fighting to get more space.

Another good while spent on kissing her stopped and we both were panting again. Now's my chance, well… I already showed her how I feel about her, but I still feel the need to tell her.

"Aurora…" I began but was stopped by her finger silencing me. She looked into my eyes for a few seconds.

"I already know how you feel about me." She chuckled "You're pretty obvious you know." I smiled at her "But I feel the same way you do about me. I want to be with you, as long as possible. I want to be in your arms as long as I can. I want to fight with you, to help you in your way up, to be more than your friend."

That right there was the girl of my dreams, in my arms, breathing each other's air. Yeah… I'm happy I got this game, I'm happy to have met her.

"You are more than my friend already and I'll be happy to have you as company while we're in here, later too, I'll be happy to feel the same way you feel about me. You and I, we'll beat this game, together." I smiled at her and looked into her eyes the whole time while talking.

I could see the shimmering in her eyes once again, looking at me. I'd be happy to see that shimmering in her beautiful eyes, every day if I could.

"Together…" She sighed while resting her forehead on mine. I loved having her close. I couldn't see the sun anymore, but I could see the final rays of light coming from it.

"C'mon Crow. Let's go to the inn, I'm tired and I bet you are too." She was right, I was tired. She pulled apart and began pulling me by the hand, again.

After about 5 minutes I was back at the inn, upstairs at my room, putting my dark blue pajamas. That meant a shirt and thin pants, my usual pajamas back in real life.

I felt the door open slightly and I saw a pair of green bright eyes watching me, then I saw Aurora's head come from outside, still watching me.

"Hey Crow. Mind if I slept with you tonight? I'm having nightmares." She asked with her cheeks red. I saw that she was only wearing a t-shirt and light blue underwear beneath. How I noticed the color? I have great eyes to detect things. I tried not to look at the large bulges in her chest. Tried not to blush at the question myself and silently nodded.

At that she closed the door behind her, walked to my bed, opened the covers and lay there, trying to sleep.

After closing my menu, I put the lights off, opened the covers and laid in the left side of the bed, while Aurora slept in the right side.

"Crow. Are you awake?" I heard her whispering after a few minutes of lying there, trying to sleep.

"Yeah."

"I'm cold." She said slowly.

I did the only thing that came to my mind; I turned around and slid until I was a few inches away from her. I lifted my right arm and hugged her against me, my left arm under her left side. She rested her head in the pillow, against my shoulder and I put my head to rest on top of hers.

"Are we going to beat this game Crow?" She asked silently.

"Yes, we are, together. Until it's gone." I answered her using my usual phrase.

"Until it's gone…" She repeated just before falling asleep.

I fell asleep there, with her in my arms.


End file.
